60 THE AIR. Á clJ(1 L.A. Justzce F OR years, It'S been noticeable that crime is more colorful and ec- centric in southern California than it is anywhere else in the country. Take murder. In New York, the usual way of killing someone is to shoot him, or to poison him with something out of a bottle. In New England, victims are struck down quietly and sternly at night on beaches near Boston, packed into trunks, and shipped by Rail- way Express to Portland or 1. SprIngfield. Around Los " Angeles, homicide tends to be picturesque and unconven- tional. The victim is submerged in a bath of prune juice and dismembered with fishhooks. Or he ( or, more often, she) gets a rattlesnake by messenger, in what looks like a florist's box. Lately, it's been possible to see that law enforce- ment in those parts is just as remark- able as crime is. The fact had been obscured for quite a while on television b) "Dragnet," a program in which Los Angeles cops, as I've said before, hum their lines like bees and make a cult of drab routine. Things are much wilder and freer in two other current programs that deal with Los Angeles crime and punishment. One of these, "Perry Mason" (Channel 2, 7 :30- 8:30 P.M., Saturdays), has now been on display long enough to have become a kind of monument to southern-Cali- fornia justice-an upside-down monu- ,men t, in the sense that official justice invariably falls on Its face in thIS show CHEMEX Bonded Filter Paper, fitt . II . (100) $2 75 The other , "Traffic Court" ( Chan- I 109 a sizes ________. nel 7, 9-9:30 P.M., Sundays), is newer, having been put into network produc- tion this month after a local run in its home town. In both "Perry Mason" (HEMEX (ORP.41 Murray Street, NewYork7,N.Y. and "Traffic Court," crime and crime- fighting reflect the bright, bold, un- spoiled spirit of a liberal environment. It's true that they both enJoy a natural advantage over programs like "Drag- net," in that all or part of their action occurs in courtrooms. It's been said, and I think rightly, that there is no more surefire form of entertainment than a trial scene "The Verdict Is Yours" (a less indigenous courtroom program that I'll talk about at another time) has been proving the point con- sistently for several months. The spe- cial quality of Los Angeles courtroom life on television is that it meets the picturesque criminal on his own terms. Consider life in "Traffic Court," where the Honorable Edgar ...Ll. Jones, Jr., a facsimile judge with a turn for the theatrIcal, has recently been administering the California Vehi- cle Code under the sponsorship of Hi- Pro, the high-protein cereal. Off the camera Judge Jones is a law-school professor Cases in his court are "re- created" from the files of the real Los Angeles Traffic Court. The latter is billed as "the largest tribunal of its kind in the world" As the saying goes, that figures, since Los Angeles is one of the world's hottest battlefields In the war between man and vehicle. Modern motorcars-shaped like cock- roaches and powered like tanks-run riot there, and the Judge, like prac- tically everyone else in town, takes their side against hIs own species; I have yet to see him outlaw an automobile. Re- ports from the front lines, delivered with grim and knowing relish, sound through the sessions like the spiel of a sightseers' guide: "He was coming out of Alvarado, when. ." "She turned left on Hollywood, when all of a sudden this '55 Buick..." "This '53 Ford stopped short just ahead of me..." "You passed the intersectIon of Wil- shire and Western, doing sixty miles an hour. ." "You backed out of your driveway right across the street, stop- ping traffic as far south as San Diego and as far north as Canada. . ." The last remark, or something like it, was addressed to an old lady who had just been released from an institution on the condition, among others, that she give up driving. "Do you want to go back to the institution? " the Judge said. The defendant said no. The Judge said it would have to be that or total absti- nence from backIng out nf driveways. He paroled her in custody of her broth- er, who promised to drive her home, while keeping her firmly away from the tiller. The defendant went off with a noncommittal look. The case, though I guess it might have happened any- where, seemed to me to have a strong southern-California flavor. So dId most of the cases I've watched in "Traffic Court," among which were: . ,.' -,..'... 1Ø.... '" .::;: :ti.< ' ';'-' .. ' . ... ::::: : ,i'S,V .. ð' 11 a -, $b . -4 1- t.,<;J x. .,þ >:t*'" ,' ;' , , \" \.. \.:, ..jt:.., ..--U> , GEORG JENSEN SILVER Classic "Grape Comþote H j elegant example of fine traditional design by Georg Jensen. 5" high... $135. Federal tax included GEORG .JENSEN INC. 667 5th A VE. , N. Y. 22, N" Y. The coff_ grounds are neatfy removed by lifting out the filter paper. ONL ..9Jace-ef, Pt. JX gt'a& Seven C HEM EX products were selected for the US Pavilion, Brussels including CHEMEX Coffeemaker, Drinking Glasses, Decanters, Kettles (gas and electr.), Canister Set and our FILTERJET Fan (no propeller, no danger, no noise). Ask for our TEAMEX Teamaker and CHEMEX "INSTANT ICE" throw-away bottle refrigerator (cools without ice!). @1958 by 'f , """<1:' " ..... .>>< 1% 11; :.,-: 11 ...... .0 t PA.R IVIA -p CASE A: Plump man in shorts had got drunk at a barbecue party and taken his son's motor scooter for a drive Was arrested while menacIng society on New Hampshire near Sunset. 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